


the things we do for love

by salazarsslytherin



Series: Queen Hogwarts AU [2]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Romance, Teen Romance, probably an obnoxious amount of kissing, this is just simple no muss no fuss fluffy hogwarts au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:55:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23934163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/salazarsslytherin/pseuds/salazarsslytherin
Summary: Brian holds in a pained sigh.  “Are you sure you want to go here, Fred?"Brian and Freddie go to Madam Puddifoot's on a date.
Relationships: Brian May/Freddie Mercury
Series: Queen Hogwarts AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1260554
Comments: 9
Kudos: 45





	the things we do for love

**Author's Note:**

> i know it's been ages since i posted the first bit of this but please understand i am always and forever here for hogwarts au so please enjoy this completely plotless, pointless fluff while the rest of the world falls apart and i continue to ignore it.
> 
> they're in fifth year by the way! i don't think it's actually mentioned anywhere and it's not relevant but in case anyone is wondering!

They’ve been solidly and happily dating for four entire weeks by the time the next Hogsmeade visit is announced.Actually, ‘gross’ is the word Roger uses when he wrinkles his nose up at them, crammed into the same armchair in the corner of the Ravenclaw common room where they’ve all decided to hole up for the night. 

“Don’t be jealous, Rog,” Freddie retorts.“I’m sure there’s someone out there for you.”

“Yeah,” Brian puts in with a little smirk that he half-hides in Freddie’s hair.“I hear Moaning Myrtle’s looking for a boyfriend, actually.”

“Oh, piss off,” Roger grouses, throwing an inky quill at the two of them that twists delicately in the air and lands harmlessly on the rug. 

Deaky rescues it and puts it back on the table beside the Potions homework Roger’s been pretending to do for two-odd hours now.“You could take her to Hogsmeade,” he suggests impishly. 

“You shut up, too,” Roger says, pointing an imperious finger at John.“When is the next Hogsmeade trip, anyway?”

“It’s this weekend,” Deaky replies.“They just announced it this morning, and thank Merlin—I’m all out of chocolate frogs.”

“Yeah, and you’ve bloody cleared me out of mine, as well!”

“And mine,” Freddie puts in with a slight frown.“I hid them as well, how did you even find them?”

Deaky only smiles mysteriously.He has his ways.Also, Freddie is terrible at hiding things, _everything_ is under his bed. 

“Are we doing same as usual then?Meet at eleven and first stop Three Broomsticks?” Roger asks.

There’s a beat of awkward silence and Freddie sits up a bit, not an easy feat with the way he and Brian are squashed into the chair together.“Uh, well actually…” he begins hesitantly.

Roger narrows his eyes.“ _What_?”

“Well, me and Bri just thought that, seeing as it’s our first weekend _together_ , you know…”Freddie trails off, hoping Roger will just get it, but Roger only arches a fighty eyebrow.

“I know _what_?”

“Freddie and I are going to go together,” Brian says bluntly.“As a date.Just us two.”

Roger’s mouth drops open.“What!But we _always_ go as a four!”

“No we don’t, you have bloody detention half the time,” Freddie argues. 

“Aside from those times,” Roger snaps.“Ever since that first weekend.And now you’re gonna abandon us to go off on some date?As if it’s not bad enough we have to watch you making out all the time—”

“We do _not_ make out all the time!”

“You kind of do,” Deaky says fairly.

“—and now we can’t even do our Hogsmeade weekends the way we always have!”

“Might I remind you _who_ helped us get together in the first place?” Freddie says hotly.“It won’t be all day anyway, we just want a bit of time to go and get some tea or something, it’s not like we won’t see you at all.”

“What about our traditional butterbeer in the Three Brooms?Honeydukes haul?How are me and Deaky supposed to carry it all back by ourselves?” Roger asks, a tiny bit petulantly.

“You won’t, we’ll join you for that stuff,” Brian says placatingly.“It’ll just be like two hours or something.”

Roger huffs quietly.“You know, I think I preferred it when you two were just you two,” he mutters.

“No you don’t,” Deaky says.“Remember?Brian was mopey all the time?”

“Hey!”

“That’s true,” Roger agrees, nodding slowly.“You _were_ a miserable git.”

“I wasn’t _miserable_ —”

“Just hopeless,” Deaky agrees with Roger, speaking over Brian.“Freddie-this and Freddie-that.”He lets out a long-suffering sigh.

Freddie peers at Brian with a shy little smile.“Oh, surely it wasn’t that bad, Bri?” he asks quietly, not exactly pleased to hear that his friend (his _boyfriend_ ) had been so miserable but over the moon to know how much Brian really did like him.

“It _was_ pretty crappy,” Brian admits, his voice low so only Freddie can hear him, not that the other two are listening, now busy loudly reminiscing about what a nightmare Brian had been before the last month. 

“And now?” Freddie asks.

Brian grins and leans in.“Very much _not_ miserable.”

It takes a minute or two for Roger and John to realise, but there are two loud groans when they do.“Oh God, they’re at it again.”

“Oi!”Roger balls up a bit of parchment and lobs it at their heads but neither of them notice.

***

They meet earlier than usual, both wanting to get as much time as possible before they have to meet Roger and John.

Freddie’s upstairs first, leaning against a wall in the Entrance Hall, watching the corridor that leads from the dungeons.There aren’t many people around—most students are still in bed and those that aren’t are having breakfast.A few, like Freddie, are already up ready to go to Hogsmeade but they don’t linger, hurrying out the doors like someone might revoke their pass otherwise.

Freddie’s already been into the Great Hall and piled a plate high with buttery toast for the two of them, grazing on a slice as he waits for Brian.

He comes stumbling down eventually, yawning and still pulling his cloak on as he glances around for Freddie, spotting him over by the doors clutching a plate of toast and grinning at him.

He clearly hasn’t brushed his hair but somehow the look is charming; he looks sleepy and ruffled, unlike Brian who is well aware that he looks like he needs another eight hours of sleep.

“Morning,” Brian greets him as he approaches, leaning down to kiss him before stealing a slice of toast.“Hope you haven’t been waiting too long.You ready to go?”

They walk out together and halfway down the long driveway Brian levitates the plate before them so Freddie can eat with one hand and hold Brian’s hand with the other.He thinks he’ll never get used to this; even after nearly five weeks he still gets a thrill from something as simple as holding Freddie’s hand.They’re going on a _date_.A real date.In town.

They haven’t had the chance to do anything like this yet.They’ve had sort-of-dates that they’ve had to be creative about but in truth most of it has been things they used to do anyway but now with occasional snogging.They did sneak down to the kitchens one night for dinner but after the disaster that was Freddie trying to cook, the house-elves have forbade them from ever coming back.

(Roger had _not_ been happy about this having been banned himself back in second year so now John is the only one able to sneak them snacks). 

They pause before they leave the grounds altogether and Brian Vanishes the plate back to the castle so they can carry on into Hogsmeade unencumbered.

Freddie’s happily swinging their hands back and forth between them, his walking pace speeding up as he half-skips along—convenient for Brian, who usually walks much faster than him.‘Speeding ahead’ Freddie calls it, petulantly, which is a bit nicer than Roger, who just calls him Frog Legs.

“Which way is it, do you remember?” Freddie asks, peering down the high street.

Brian looks with him.“I think it’s along here,” he says, leading them on.They’ve decided (well, Freddie wanted to) to go to Madam Puddifoot’s for tea—it’s supposed to be the perfect place for a date in Hogsmeade (the only place, really) and ever so romantic, according to Freddie’s other friends.Brian’s not so sure—he’s walked past it before and it seems very _pink_ but as long as he gets to spend today with Freddie he doesn’t mind. 

It takes them a good twenty minutes to actually find the place; it’s tucked rather inconveniently out of the way round a corner, in a little nook where it’d be easy to overlook if not for the decor.Even from the outside, it’s a lot to take in. 

“Ooh, look, Bri!” Freddie coos, stopping short when he sees.“Here it is!”

Here it is, indeed.Brian holds in a pained sigh.“Are you _sure_ you want to go here, Fred?Don’t you think it looks a bit...tacky?”A lot tacky, actually.

“No!” Freddie retorts at once, tugging on Brian’s hand to pull him over.“It looks just _darling_ , don’t be a bore.Where else are we supposed to go, anyway?Roger and John will be in the Three Broomsticks.Unless you want to go to the Hog’s Head?” Freddie adds, a worrying interest in his eyes.

Brian tightens his hand on Freddie’s and takes over leading the way to Puddifoot’s.“No,” he says at once.He doesn’t like the idea of Freddie going to the Hog’s Head at _all_.“Here’s fine.Perfect, even.”

Freddie’s looking back down the street, towards the turning for the Hog’s Head, and Brian has to give him a slight pull to get him to walk the rest of the way to the little tea shop.He knows what Freddie’s like and he’s _sure_ the second he had the chance he’d be in there ‘just having a look’, but the Hog’s Head is where all the rough, older wizards drink and it’s often the scene of duels and illegal activities that Brian would rather Freddie _wasn’t_ a witness to. 

It’s a far bloody cry from Madam Puddifoot’s, that’s for sure.

A little bell tinkles overhead as they open the door and step inside, strains of Celestina Warbeck’s ‘A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love’ washing over them.The _moment_ they’re over the threshold, a pink and gold enchanted cherub flings confetti over the two of them and Brian blinks in surprise, trying to shake the stuff out of his hair as Freddie gazes up at it with an awed little gasp.

“Oh, Brian, isn’t it _cute_?”

Brian shoots the thing a disgruntled look, _certain_ that it just chucked all that confetti over him on purpose (does it _look_ like it’s easy to get bits out of his hair?), but offers Freddie a serene smile when he looks back at him.“Oh yeah,” he agrees.“Really cute.Shall we find a table?”

He looks around the rest of the cafe, then, and his heart sinks a bit at what he sees.There are more cherubs, for one thing, floating among the tables and occasionally depositing pink confetti on the couples beneath them.Everything is pink and white and gold, and not in a nice, tasteful way but in a frilly, old lady sort of way.Everything’s done up with lace and hearts and ribbons.It’s all a bit much, but they’re here now.Hopefully the tea’ll be nice, at least.

“What about over there?” Freddie asks, pointing to a booth in the far corner.

Brian’s more than happy to sit in the most private place possible so he makes a beeline for it; most of the couples around here are just kissing anyway, which is precisely what Brian wants to do, but he doesn’t want everyone to bloody well _watch_. 

Freddie slides in on one side and Brian follows him, sitting next to him rather than opposite.

Freddie arches his eyebrow questioningly but understanding dawns on his face when Brian immediately leans in to capture his lips. 

Actually, Brian’s decided he doesn’t care what the tea’s like at all; he’ll happily just do this all afternoon.

Or, he _would_.

“Good afternoon!Ooh, just look at the two of you—young love at its sweetest!”The waitress is an older witch in a frilly pink apron that matches the interior of the cafe only too well and a sickly sweet smile on her face.“And such a handsome pair, too!” she coos when they break apart. 

Brian flushes. 

“What can I get you?” she asks, whipping out a (pink) notepad and a (pink) pen.

“Oh, we haven’t looked at the menu yet, actually,” Freddie says, hunting around for it on the table and finding it behind a giant cut-out of a heart with ‘YOU ARE MY LOVE POTION’ embossed across it. 

“Of course you haven’t,” the waitress chuckles, giving them a wink.“I’ll give you a minute, shall I?”

“Please,” Brian requests, peering over Freddie’s shoulder to stare at the menu to avoid looking at her.“Bit of a busybody, isn’t she?”

“She was just trying to take our order,” Freddie laughs.“You’re just mad she interrupted us.”

Brian can’t deny that.He kisses Freddie on the cheek, because he can’t reach his mouth any more.“A bit,” he admits.“What shall we get, then?”

The things on the menu don’t look normal—they all have odd names like ‘Happy Ending Hot Chocolate’ and ‘Pucker-Up Pecan Pie’ and Brian isn’t sure if the names are for show or if they’re imbibed with potions or something.

“What do you think ‘True Love’s Treats’ are?” Freddie asks.

“Not a clue.”Brian frowns.“Isn’t there just normal tea on here?”

“Uhh…”Freddie scans the menu.“Yes!Tea-for-two.Shall we get that?Oh, wouldn’t it be sweet if it had proper tea leaves!” he adds, looking wide-eyed at Brian.“It’ll be like when we first got together.”

Brian’s actually quite happy with not dealing with any more tea leaves—it all worked out wonderfully, of course, but he’s still a _little_ bit annoyed with Roger for being a complete wanker about the whole thing.“I’m not sure what it’d show this time,” he muses.

“Probably that you’re the _perfect_ boyfriend for coming here with me even though you absolutely hate it,” Freddie says knowingly.

Brian blinks.“I don’t _hate_ it,” he says quickly.

Freddie gives him a _look_.

"Okay, I sort of hate it."

Freddie chuckles and takes Brian’s hand under the table.“You can’t fool me, darling.Thank you for coming though, honestly.I think it’s such a sweet little shop.”

Another cherub chooses that moment to toss another handful of confetti over them and Brian’s irritation must show on his face because Freddie snorts with laughter and brushes it off his shoulders, plucking a few stray bits from his hair. 

There’s a bit caught on Freddie, just above his ear, and Brian indulges himself stroking his cheek for a moment before getting rid of it. 

Freddie’s looking slightly dazed and leaning in for another kiss when the waitress reappears and Brian has to resist the urge to quietly Confund her and send her away.Because it’s illegal, for one thing, and because she’s only doing her job.Difficult to remind himself of that when Freddie’s mouth is _right_ there—Brian couldn’t care less about tea right now but Freddie did want to try it.

“Could we get some tea, please?” Freddie asks beautifically, smiling up at the waitress.“And some True Love’s Treats,” he adds.

Brian arches an eyebrow at him. 

“I want to see what it is,” Freddie explains. 

Brian nods; he’s curious, himself.“Could we also get some of this ‘Come Closer Cookie’?” 

“Of course!”The waitress scribbles their order down.“Anything else?”

“Could we just get some water as well?” Brian asks.

“Oh, sure!We have rose water, lavender water, orange b—”

“No I mean just...normal water,” Brian clarifies.

The waitress frowns.“Hmm.Well, I’ll see what I can do for you two lovely gentlemen.”With that she turns and skips away, leaving Brian staring after her in bewilderment.

“It’s just _water_ ,” he says, turning to Freddie.“Stick your wand in a jug and say, ‘ _aguamenti_ ’.It’s not hard.”He can’t wait until he’s seventeen, it’s maddening sometimes not being able to use magic outside of school.

“Well of course it has to be _flowery_ , Brian, where’s your romantic spirit?” Freddie teases him. 

Brian knocks Freddie’s shoulder with his but smiles a bit.He doesn’t mind, really.

“Besides, that spell _is_ quite difficult, actually, you know I can’t bloody well do it,” Freddie says, frowning. 

“Technically it _is_ water.”

“ _Salt_ water!That’s no good to anyone.I’m going to fail all my exams,” Freddie says gloomily.

“No you won’t.”Brian’s positive of that; he won’t let it happen.“We should probably have some tutoring sessions again,” he adds, feeling a little guilty because they always used to before but lately they end up getting _distracted_ when Brian’s trying to run Freddie through spells he struggles with. 

“Probably,” Freddie sighs.“I’m struggling with that damned Transfiguration essay on cross-species switches as well.”

“I’ll help you with it,” Brian tells him, though that was always a given.“Maybe we should bring Rog and Deaky along from now on,” he suggests, though it pains him to do so.

Freddie sighs and drops his head down onto his arms.“Probably,” he mumbles into the table-top. 

Brian gives a gentle laugh and puts his hand on the back of Freddie’s head, ruffling his hair.“You’ll be fine, Fred.”

“I don’t know how you do it,” Freddie says, straightening up but leaning his head into Brian’s touch like a cat.“Ugh, let’s not talk about homework.”

“Alright,” Brian acquiesces at once.“Is there a match next Saturday?Or the one after?”

“Next Saturday,” Freddie says.“It’s Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, how don’t you know that?”

Brian rolls his eyes.“You know I only go because of Rog.” 

“Do you think he’d kill me if I came to sit in the Ravenclaw stands with you?” Freddie asks.

“Uh, probably.I’ll come to sit with the Slytherins and we can just cheer for whoever,” Brian says.It doesn’t at any point occur to either of them to sit separately.

“Gryffindor,” Freddie says.He doesn’t particularly care which house wins the Quidditch Cup but Roger cares _desperately_ and he’ll be miserable all summer if Gryffindor doesn’t get it.

“Hello, you two!” the waitress chirps, returning with a levitating jug of water that very distinctly has petals floating in it.“So sorry, chicks!We only have rose water for you, here you go.”She guides the jug down onto their table and waves her wand again to Conjure up two glasses.“Your treats will be along shortly!Enjoy!”

Brian makes a face down at the water as she wanders off to another table.“ _Rose water_ ,” he repeats, even as Freddie picks it up and fills both of their glasses.

“I quite like it, actually,” Freddie says, sipping thoughtfully.“It’s a nice change.”

Brian, taking a sip from his own glass, isn’t so sure.Particularly because as he sips he gets a petal in his mouth and another cherub floats past and douses them in confetti again, a lot of which lands in his bloody drink.

“Shoo, you daft thing!” Freddie tells it, waving a hand but he’s laughing.He thinks it’s sweet.

Thankfully, Brian thinks Freddie’s sweet, so he can’t be too annoyed.Plus their cakes arrive moments later, which is enough to put even Brian in a better mood.

“Ooh, this looks _fantastic_!” Freddie says, immediately reaching for the cookie, but it won’t come off the plate.“That’s weird…”

He struggles for a moment, grabbing it from all angles, but the thing won’t budge. 

Brian’s just watching him with one eyebrow arched, amused. 

“Brian!” Freddie complains at him.“It won’t move!It’s like it has a Permanent bloody Sticking Charm on it.”

“Why would they stick their food to their plates?” Brian asks reasonably, reaching out to try and help.This time, the cookie slides easily on the plate, nearly falling off the edge because Brian had put a fair amount of effort into grabbing it, after seeing Freddie’s struggle.

Freddie takes his hand back with a little sigh.“I _swear_ it wasn’t moving!”

But Brian believes it anyway; as soon as Freddie’s hand is gone, the cookie is stuck fast again.

“I think we both have to touch it for it to move,” Brian says, intrigued by the charmwork despite himself. 

“ _Oh_ ,” Freddie realises, reaching for it again.The cookie comes up easily once they both have a hand on it.“Come Closer Cookie,” Freddie says, laughing.“I suppose that makes sense.We really will have to share this one.”

Brian grins, not opposed to the idea at all, and immediately leans in to take a bite, pausing with his face hovering very near Freddie’s and keeping eye contact until they both laugh, feeling slightly awkward but not enough to stop.

Freddie’s blushing adorably as he takes a bite, their noses scant millimetres apart.“Can we get one of these for Roger and John?” he suggests as he pulls away, both of them coordinating their hands so they can set it down.“Imagine their faces!”

Brian snorts.“I think you’d earn yourself a cup of tea in a nose-biting teacup if you did that,” he warns.Roger had gotten him with one of those back in second year and Brian’s never forgotten it—the damned thing had _hurt_.In fact, he doesn’t trust Roger around teacups at _all_ these days.“What are these treat things, then?”

Freddie abandons the cookie to look at the second plate, which has several snitch-sized sweets and a piece of pink-tinted parchment.

He picks it up and hides it from Brian while he reads it, grinning.“Take one and eat it,” he tells him.

Brian eyes him.“Why?”

“Don’t you trust me?”He’s pouting, which Brian’s helpless against.

“It’s not you I don’t trust, it’s this bloody shop,” Brian mutters, though he picks up a sweet and takes a bite.“Oh, it’s quite nice actually.”

“What flavour?”

“Strawberry.”

Freddie quickly consults the parchment and looks up again, glowing.“That means you’re feeling _loving_!”

Brian grins at him.“Smart magic,” he says, trying not to be cynical though _really_ , what the hell is anyone _doing_ here if they’re not feeling loving?“You try one, then,” he adds, pushing the plate toward Freddie and stealing the parchment from him.

Freddie picks one up without the mistrustful hesitation that Brian seems to hold for everything in this shop and sticks the whole thing in his mouth, his expression thoughtful as he chews.“Chocolate,” he says decidedly.

Brian skims through the flavour list and smirks at Freddie.“Feeling _flirty_ , are we, Mr Bulsara?”

Freddie blushes and swallows.“Maybe,” he says, grinning when it makes Brian lean in and kiss the last lingering taste of chocolate from his mouth.

“Good,” Brian tells him lowly.“You know, I don’t think I mind this shop after all,” he adds as he pulls back, looking back at the parchment.“I wonder if anyone ever had it taste like goblin piss,” he wonders aloud and Freddie laughs as he starts pouring them both a tea.

“What in Merlin’s name is _that_ meant to be?”

“Feeling unfaithful, apparently,” Brian says, putting the parchment aside.“And one of them is _spicy_ , I’m sure you can guess what feeling _that_ is meant to be, I don’t know if they should be selling that to students.”

“Oh, Mr Prefect!”

Brian grins and puts his hands up.“I’m off-duty today,” he says quickly. 

“Good, ‘cause I want to go to Zonko’s.”

Brian puts on a mock-disappointed face.“Buying contraband, Freddie?I’ll have to search your pockets.”

Freddie blushes again and busies himself drinking tea while Brian sits feeling smug and stirring sugar into his own cup.

They don’t have long until they’re due to meet Roger and John up at the Three Broomsticks but they manage to finish the pot of tea and the cookies, though the True Love’s Treats get packed into a paper bag to be taken with them as they leave, covered in confetti and waving off the over-friendly waitress.

Freddie’s beaming when they step outside, clutching Brian’s hand and leaning into him.“Thanks for coming with me, darling,” he says gratefully.“And thank you for paying, you _know_ you didn’t have to do that!”

“I wanted to,” Brian tells him, giving his hand a squeeze.“Next time, though, _I_ get to choose the date location.”

“Oh, Salazar help me,” Freddie groans, “you’re going to make me spend the day in Dervish and Banges, aren’t you?”

“Not the _whole_ day,” Brian says fairly, snorting.“I’ll probably browse for some new quills in Scrivenshaft’s, too.”

“A true romantic,” Freddie quips. 

“You’re a lucky guy,” Brian says.

Freddie laughs but then he pauses, making Brian stop.“I _am_ , you know,” he says suddenly, looking up at Brian with a shy but serious look on his face.“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Brian.”

Brian ducks his head.“Less homework, probably,” he jokes, and Freddie hits him.

“I’m serious!”

“I know you are,” Brian reassures him.“I am, too.About this.You.”

Freddie lets out a breath and grins again, his cheeks aching with how much he’s just been _smiling_ today, when a familiar voice rings out down the cobbled street.

“OI!LOVEBIRDS!”

Brian closes his eyes.“ _Any_ chance that’s not directed at us?”

“Bulsara!May!”

Freddie sighs, but he’s amused.“Busted.Three Brooms?”

“God, I don’t know if I can fit in anything else to drink.”

“Well, come along just so we can get that Debbie girl in Hufflepuff to join us and make Roger try one of those True Love Treats,” Freddie tells him, and can tell from Brian’s sly grin that he’s caught on at once.

“Fred,” he admonishes, very half-heartedly, “you know he doesn’t like spicy things.”

“Who said anything about spicy?” Freddie asks innocently.“ _I_ tasted chocolate.It’s not my fault if he can’t control himself around a leggy blonde.”

“I’m not condoning this,” Brian tells him, shaking his head just as they reach their friends.

Roger gives them both a knowing look and makes a kissy face.“Had enough smooching?” he asks, gesturing at the door of the pub.“Dunno how you put up with that bloody nose in your face all the time, Fred, it’s a wonder he hasn’t taken your eye out yet.”

Brian very pointedly does not react, just meets Freddie’s eye and innocently asks, “Want a sweet, Rog?”

And if he doesn’t give it to him until _after_ Madam Rosmerta’s made Roger blush and shift about on his stall, at least he doesn’t laugh when Roger falls over himself with his eyes streaming, mouth on fire, clutching for a pint of gillywater.

Well, not much anyway.


End file.
